Running into Him
by Liliana Beleren
Summary: I don't own any of the characters. They belong to the ever-talented J.K. Rowling. Hermione married Ron right after Hogwarts. What happens when that falls apart and she falls into a Slytherin's arms?
1. Chapter 1

She took off running at full speed. Her legs were on fire and she relished the pain. Weeks of being cooped up in the house were driving her crazy. So were the memories. She hated those. They had gotten married right out of school. It was what they were supposed to do. Everyone had been asking when they were starting the planning. The newspapers went wild. They were on the front page from the day of the announcement of their wedding until they announced the impending divorce four months ago.

 _Five years. I gave him five of my best years and this is how I'm repaid?_ She growled as she pushed harder into her run. She knew her hair was going to be unmanageable when she circled back to her little cottage. She quit caring about how her hair looked weeks ago. She never left the house except to go running anyway. She ran more and more as the paperwork kept getting delayed.

 _I'm sorry Mrs. Weasley, he still hasn't signed a majority of the documents. The most we've been able to get him to sign is this portion right here._ The lawyer gestured to several pages of prenuptial agreements that Ron had made her sign. Hermione sighed again when she left that day. It was like her soon-to-be-ex-husband couldn't decide if he wanted to get rid of her or not. A glance at the covers of Witch Weekly said he wanted her gone. The fact he refused to sign the divorce papers he asked for said he wanted her to stay, like she had always done. This time was going to be different. She had already signed all the necessary papers when he first asked her.

 _'Mione, look. It's that we never go out, you never look nice, and quite frankly, our sex life has died. Not that it was great to begin with…_

 _Ron, where did you get that? I fell off my broom at practice today._

 _Ron, are you and Harry having a boys' night again? We had dinner reservations at seven._

Hermione felt the fire of tears behind her eyes again and began sprinting the last few meters to the front yard. She slammed the door and jumped up the stairs to have a long, hot shower.

An hour after her shower, Hermione wandered into the small kitchen. A wave of her wand brought down the necessary pots and pans for lasagna. Right as she started the water to boil, her fireplace jumped to life. Raising an eyebrow, Hermione knelt on the cushion and waited. Ginny Potter's face soon appeared in the flames.

"Hullo, 'Mione. How are you?" the always-cheerful Hollyhead Harpies Chaser smiled widely at her best friend.

"Hey, Gin. I'm alright. I had a run today. I took a new path today. Took me almost to the neighbor's property. That would've been interesting. I've been avoiding meeting most of them," Hermione couldn't resist a small smile at the energetic redhead. She missed Ginny and Harry. The two had been laying low at one of the properties Harry had inherited from Sirius since Ron and Hermione announced their divorce. They were the only two who knew the whole story.

"Excellent! Well, lucky for you your favorite best friend has made arrangements to come see you in exactly one week!" Ginny squealed. Hermione just stared at her friend.

"Oh lord, Gin! I'm going to have to stock my kitchen to feed an army! You and Harry both eat enough for four and little James can't be much better!" Hermione groaned. Mentally, the brunette witch was jumping for joy. She couldn't wait to catch up properly with her friends.

The witches finished their Floo call shortly after. Hermione strode back to the kitchen, intent on finishing her lasagna. She began to hum an old tune as she cooked. A quick gesture at her radio had it playing her favorite Weird Sisters CD. Hermione started to bob along to the beat, taking care not to burn her hand.

 _The Weird Sisters were the best to listen to when she was cooking. It was going to be lasagna tonight, Ron's favorite. Humming along to the tune and dancing, Hermione lost focus long enough to graze the top of her hand along the oven. She screamed in pain, doubling over. Clutching her hand, she Floo'd to St. Mungo's. The receptionist quickly sent her to the burn unit. The Healers were quick but it was nearly a third-degree burn. Several potions, spells, poultices, and hours later, Hermione stepped back through the Floo to see Ron, annoyed and holding burned lasagna. Even the bandages on her hand hadn't been enough to ease his annoyance and he left for the Leaky Cauldron shortly after._

Hermione pulled the lasagna out of the oven and dug in with relish. She hadn't made any since that night. Wrapping her leftovers she turned in for the night, praying the nightmares would stay away tonight.

She woke up gasping for air and covered in a cold sweat. Groaning, she glanced at her bedside clock. Groaning again at the red 1:15AM on its face, she threw off the blankets and changed into her running clothes. There was one more trail she had seen on her last run she wanted to explore.

Twenty long minutes later, she found the marker she left at the entrance. She turned and began a slow jog, studying the trees and the path. She was so lost in thought she didn't see the 6'2" figure barreling towards her from the other direction. With an audible exhale she hit the ground. Wincing, she stood up and turned to apologize to the wall she had apparently hit. Shock kept her from speaking as she caught sight of the Slytherin crest on the left side of a silver windbreaker and the shock of white-blonde hair being tossed out of the wall's startling silver eyes.

"Granger."


	2. Chapter 2

Dropping her head on the table in her kitchen, Hermione groaned softly. _How in Merlin's name did this happen to me?_ She glared at her clock, now reading only 7:30AM, and drug herself to the shower. As the hot water loosened her curls, she thought again about her run, and her run-in with her neighbor.

 _'Merlin, Granger, watch where you're going!' Draco Malfoy of all people grouched at her, rubbing his chest with one hand, offering her the other. 'Your head feels like stone.'_

 _'I…I'm so sorry! I was just out for a run and I found a new trail and…' Hermione trailed off, wondering why she was so flustered. She did just smack him directly in the chest. It was quite solid. And so warm, she had always liked warm chests. No! Get it together, Granger!_

 _'Yes, well, new trail or not, you're on my property,' Malfoy's tone was factual rather than antagonistic. 'If you feel the urge to try new trails, there's several about 300 meters back, where it forks. Take the right instead of the left.'_

 _Hermione stared for a moment in shock before mumbling her thanks, another apology, and a 'so long'. She turned quickly on her heel and sprinted for the trails he had mentioned. The exchange felt like it had taken hours, and she had collapsed into a chair at the kitchen table at 6:30._

Draco stepped into his bathroom and turned on the shower. He hadn't expected anyone else on his favorite trail near the edge of the property, let alone Hermione Granger. Hmmm. If he recalled she married Weasley about five or six years ago, right after she had gone back to Hogwarts to finish her schooling. Potter and Weasley went right to work for the Ministry, but the Chudley Cannons had recruited Weasley after a year or two. It suddenly occurred to him why her eyes-her big, beautiful, chocolate eyes he could get lost in…Get it together Draco-looked so sad; she and Weasley were in the middle of signing divorce papers.

Divorce. Draco stepped out of the shower as he wondered what had happened between the two. They had been the perfect couple. He made a note to ask Potter next time they got together for drinks. Potter was a pain at times, but he could appreciate a good whiskey.

Hermione wrapped her hair in a towel on her head and sat at her desk. She stared at the letter from her editor. The next chapter of her book was due in a week and she hadn't even started it. She sighed as she penned a short note to Ginny and called to her owl, Bathilda.

"Take this to Ginny Potter for me, sweet. She'll have nice treats for you and you can say hello to Pig," Hermione cooed at the bird. A part of her wasn't fond of specifying which Ginny to go to, but her editor was Jenny, her best friend was Ginny, and she had a few sources named Jen and Gin. Bathilda hooted and took off.

Turning again to her work, Hermione began pulling out notes and incantations. She was going to make history by redoing the old Transfiguration textbooks. There was so much to do with the study and so few wanted to update it. At first, she didn't think it would be such a large undertaking, but after the first revision she was flooded with questions from Transfiguration Masters and Mistresses all over the world. Her publisher had also lined up a Charms revision for her, due in the next three years. Gritting her teeth, Hermione began to outline the NEWT-level chapter for the eighth or ninth time.

Ginvera Potter was a simple woman. Really she was. Don't touch her things and don't threaten her family. She sighed as she lazed on the couch, relishing in the quiet of the Mediterranean. A tapping on the window pulled her up. She opened the window to greet Hermione's owl. Bathilda held out her leg then flew over to Pig's food bowl. Ginny laughed as she refilled it for her. As she read the letter, her eyebrows quickly made their way to her hairline. She sat back on the couch and contemplated the day Hermione had come to tell her that she and Ron were getting a divorce.

 _'Hermione! What a pleasant surprise!' Ginny greeted her best friend and favorite sister-in-law with a hug._

 _'I'm not so sure about pleasant, Gin,' Hermione only looked at her feet and requested a tumbler of fire whiskey._

 _The redheaded witch quickly gestured for Hermione to sit on the couch and brought the requested drink. Several minutes later, it all came out. Ginny couldn't believe it at first. She had almost thrown Hermione out of the house. Harry, having heard the commotion, padded into the living room to see what was going on. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it either…_

Ginny shook her head, determined to ignore the murderous thoughts that were slowly creeping into her mind. Her idiot brother had thrown away the best woman in the world. She shook her head again and dashed a reply to Hermione. She was finishing making preparations for the trip to see Hermione. A quick glance at Bathilda told her that the owl would need to stay the night instead of making an immediate return trip to England.


	3. Chapter 3

As usual, Draco sat in the Leaky Cauldron, in his usual booth, in his usual corner, drinking his usual drink, and scowling, as usual, at any witch who started in his direction. He was tired of witches deciding they liked reformed Death Eaters. He knew most of them just wanted the family money that the pardoned younger ones had. He glared again at his drink, pissed off that his best mate, Blaise, had the audacity to go ahead and marry some Italian witch and leave Draco to himself. The periodic owls Blaise sent were full of stories about children and Italy and his beautiful, gracious, and all-around lovely wife. It seems the hot-tempered witch was exactly what Blaise needed to settle down. Two distinct taps on his table slowly brought Draco out of his musing. He nodded as Harry Potter, disguised as usual, slid into the seat across from him.

"Ferret."

"Pothead."

At the familiar greeting both Harry and Draco cracked a smile. Harry gestured for Hannah Abbott to bring him a drink. She smiled over at the corner and waved her wand to make Harry's usual drink appear.

"Are we ever going to change this little ritual we have, Draco?" Harry asked between sips of Hannah's best firewhisky. It was Draco's turn to pay.

"I doubt it, Harry. We have a nice system here. And we really don't like change much," Draco smirked as the raven-haired wizard toasted his statement.

"True enough. Say, Draco, I hear you have a new neighbor," it was Harry's turn to smirk as Draco flushed and began fidgeting with his empty tumbler.

"Yes."

"Don't hurt her, alright mate? Ronald did enough of that already," Harry trailed off.

"What happened, exactly, with those two? They were like you and Gin, destined to be together forever. The wizarding world's second couple."

Harry frowned at his drinking companion. "It's not my business to say, Draco. And I wouldn't advise asking anyone around here. All they know is one side of the story. I will tell you this, though: he won't sign the papers and he's the one who asked for the divorce," Harry murmured. Hermione didn't want that part to be common knowledge. As far as the general public was concerned, the assets between the two were so large that it was taking the court months to sort it out. Draco arched an eyebrow before finishing his drink and dropping galleons onto the table. Harry followed soon after, throwing a few more coins down for the tip. Hannah really did have the best service in England.

Hermione was perched on her bed, reading Ginny's reply and petting Bathilda. A whoosh from the living room signaled the early arrival of the redheaded witch and Hermione squealed. She sprinted down the stairs and right into Ginny's waiting arms. Laughing, the two witched hugged tight.

"Oh, Ginny, it's so good to see you!"

"You too, 'Mione! This cottage is just adorable. I love it. It suits you."

"I know! And the library is wonderful, Gin. The study is enormous. Undetectable Extension Charms are marvelous aren't they?"

"Of course they are," Ginny held up the small duffle bag she carried with a smile. "This is still the best Christmas present you've ever given me."

The witches soon had Ginny settled into a room and were in the kitchen sampling some of Hermione's new favorite wine. The idle chitchat soon became gossip, which led right into what had been eating away at Ginny for two days.

"So, is Malfoy still delicious or what?" Ginny giggled.

"Gin, he is still the same nasty little ferret we went to school with. But yes that man could still make Witch Weekly's Sexist Wizard list if he'd ever answer them."

"Did you know," Ginny leaned in. "that Harry meets Draco for a drink every week at the Leaky?"

Hermione gasped. "You mean even after Malfoy had-wait, Draco?" She glared at Ginny. "What else aren't you telling me, Mrs. Potter?"

Ginny looked down guiltily. "He's been round the house a few times. He's wonderful with James. Decent cook, even. And now that he's your neighbor, maybe you could get to know him, too?" Ginny looked hopeful. She was tired of watching her two favorite non-relatives hurting. She knew they were lonely and angry. She also knew no one else could keep up with them. Draco and Hermione had top marks in their year all through school. No one could come close.

Hermione snorted as she poured herself another glass of the wine. "Not in a million years, Ginny."

Ginny rolled her eyes. She had seen the glint of a thought go through the brunette's mind. Hermione was already planning her next "accidental" run-in with Draco Malfoy.


End file.
